3 dead after truck crashes into home after chase in North Carolina

SHELBY, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) - Three people are dead after a truck fleeing law enforcement crashed into a home in Shelby, North Carolina, on Sunday, WBTV reports.

The incident started in Blacksburg, South Carolina, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

According to deputies, dispatch received a call Sunday around 12:55 a.m. that a white pickup was following and shooting into the caller’s Dodge Charger.

After the chase reached North Carolina, the 911 call was transferred around 1:07 a.m. to the Cleveland County dispatch center.

Deputies from Cleveland County say they tried to stop the suspects, but the truck fled by running a red light and headed onto Highway 74 West, turned onto Dekalb Street and turned off the headlights.

According to deputies, they lost sight of the truck momentarily but found it crashed into the home.

The homeowner said that after nearly 50 years of living in the home on Suttle Street, he’s glad to still have his life. Others in the neighborhood said the incident was unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

“What I see is a lot of destruction and a lot of craziness,” neighbor Franklin Batten said. “I never seen bodies before or people die in an accident like this before. I never witnessed it in my life.”

Officials with the Shelby Police Department said six men were in the car at the time, five between the ages of 15 and 20.

Officers say three of the men have died, three were taken to the hospital and one was released.

No one in the car that was being chased was hurt.

“Given the relentlessness with which these suspects pursued and shot at the victims, it is a miracle that no one in the victims’ car was injured. I am proud of the joint effort between all the involved agencies to work through this investigation,” Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said.

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